Before the End
by hands-of-blue
Summary: A/U.  Long ago vampires came and laid claim to human territory.  Now the Cullens rule with an iron-clad fist, but Alice isn't like the others.  Will Bella let herself be loved, or are they destined to be enemies?
1. Into a cruel land

_A/N: This story is quite a departure from the actual Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. The plot and setting is completely different and I play around with the main characters in some ways as well. Nonetheless, there will be an eventual Bella and Alice romance, but I'm shooting for a long and unique tale, so don't expect to rush straight into the lovin'. I'll try to lay out some of the important details of this new world right away, but if you're confused let me know!_

_And yes, I have two other stories still in progress, one of which is a Bellice piece. I'm thinking I'm going to revamp that one though since I kind of rushed into it. _

Into a cruel land

"Come on Tera, Charlie can't start without you!" A chorus of children dressed in filthy rags and matted hair yelled and begged for a stray youngster to join the circle. The small girl tripped over her broken sandals and skid face first into the rocky earth. She slid to a stop in front of the only adult present amongst the large irregular circle of children. The man's murky brown eyes flashed with concern in the firelight as he hooked his hands under the girl's armpits and lifted her into his lap. Her lip was smeared with blood and dirt and tears streamed down her red cheeks. Quickly she nestled into the man's chest as her little body shook with sobs.

"Hush now Tera, your mother will look at your lip when you're done listening to the story. Now you can stay in my lap while I tell it, but you have to keep your ears open as wide as you can the whole time alright?" Charlie rubbed Tera's back gently as she nodded her head in compliance. The other children around the fire quietly encouraged the girl cradled in Charlie's arms to stop crying. This would be the children's first time hearing Charlie's story and it was very important everyone in the village knew it by heart.

"Ok children, we'll start at the beginning."

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><p><em>Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, vampires did not exist in this part of the world. The human tribes ruled the lands and shared a peaceful trade agreement with the islands south of here, inhabited by the werewolf folk. One night a mysterious fog crossed the sea to the east and with it brought the vampires. They arrived in massive black ships day and night for a month until finally no more came. By then the vampires who had arrived had already claimed the east coast and the middle lands. It was only a couple more weeks and the entire continent was there's. Humans became slaves or food and the werewolves retreated back to their islands where the vampires dared not to explore. <em>

_When the vampires laid claim to these lands and its people, there were four siblings that led the charge against humanity: two sisters and two brothers. Once the vampires gained total power, three of the siblings left just as swiftly as they arrived. Why this happened and where they returned back to, no one knows for certain. The sibling that remained, our King Carlisle, was said to be the most ruthless of the vampire siblings. He revels in hunting us humans and kills in the most torturous ways. If you must ever face him children, you give up your life lest he rip it from you. _

_With his siblings gone, King Carlisle had his generals scour the continent in search of the most beautiful human woman they could find. Finally they brought him a young woman named Esme who hailed from a tribe not far from here. Though Queen Esme was barely out of her teenage years, King Carlisle made her his queen immediately. Listen up children, if you find yourself before Queen Esme, do not feel shame in making yourself seem most pitiful. The queen feeds upon humans, but she does so begrudgingly for she has never forgiven King Carlisle for turning her into a vampire. Appear weak and helpless and Queen Esme will grant you mercy and find a different meal._

_After a year of marriage, the king and queen took up permanent residence in their castle directly in the center of the continent. At this time Queen Esme was still a human woman, so she could give birth and she did when she had their first child, Lady Alice. From a young age Lady Alice was gifted with the ability to see the future, which King Carlisle cherished her for, but he despised her rebellious nature. Even once her father turned her into a vampire at age 20 and appointed her ruler of the northwest lands, Lady Alice refused to feast on human flesh. Children hear this; if Lady Alice is in your presence, do not fear as you should with the other lords and ladies. Lady Alice has kept her promise to only drink wild animal blood and the humans of her lands tell tales of the Lady's humble wisdom and near equality between her vampire and human subjects._

_Fairly shortly after Queen Esme had Lady Alice, she gave birth to a son, Lord Edward. He was a quite young man, mostly because he was too busy with his gift of listening to other people's thoughts. Lord Edward yearned for the king's approval which pleased King Carlisle, but put Lord Edward and Lady Alice at odds more times than not. When Lord Edward was turned the king put him in charge of the lands in the middle of the continents; the closest place to the king and queen's castle. Should you run into Lord Edward children, try to make your thoughts insignificant. Lord Edward knows vampires are superior to humans and will pay you no more heed than he would a bug if you act like one._

_Four years after King Carlisle established his kingdom, Queen Esme gave him another girl, Lady Rosalie. Lady Rosalie was not gifted with a power like her two older siblings, but she was remarkably beautiful even by vampire standards. King Carlisle did not see much use in Lady Rosalie while she was still a human girl, but Queen Esme pampered her as if the lady was the queen. King Carlisle chose to wait until Lady Rosalie was a more mature age of 24 when he turned her and deemed her ruler of the southwest lands. Children if Lady Rosalie crosses your path you must do much as you would with Lord Edward. These two siblings are very close and share a strong view of humans as dirt, so dirt you shall become._

_After Lady Rosalie's birth, it was a few years before Queen Esme had yet another child: Lord Emmet. Like Lady Rosalie, Lord Emmet did not receive a special power, but he was unnaturally strong for a human. This delighted King Carlisle and he turned Lord Emmet at the mere age of 18 to quickly make him the ruler of the northeast lands. Lord Emmet has always been loved by all of his siblings for his endless pursuit of humor. Cause Lord Emmet to laugh children and you'll be safe around him. At the very least you should know by now that we live in one of Lord Emmet's human villages, just a few miles away from Lord Emmet's compound. Life may be hard under his rule, as we are told it should be for an inferior group such as us humans, but it could be much worse, so do not fret._

_Almost ten years from the time King Carlisle made Esme his queen, she finally gave birth to their last child, Lord Jasper. With Lord Jasper, the king and queen saw a revival of a child of theirs having a unique ability when they discovered Lord Jasper could feel and control others emotions. Lord Jasper was a clever young man and enjoyed tormenting vampire and human servants of the castle by forcing them to feel strange things for and against each other. King Carlisle turned Lord Jasper at the same age as his other gifted siblings, 20 years old, and left him ruler of the southeast lands. Listen carefully children, to stumble upon Lord Jasper is the most dangerous of them all. He will use cunning tricks against you and if you fail at playing his game, Lord Jasper's viciousness is rivaled only by King Carlisle's. _

_Now in conclusion to our story for this eve, let me warn you of the dangers of nomads. These are vampires that live in hiding from the rulers, mostly out in the countryside of each land. Nomads have either been shunned from their vampire brethren and escaped before they could be executed, or were humans who were turned by nomads instead of eaten. Children it is very important that you not put yourself at risk of running into even just one nomad. These vampires observe no set of rules to keep them in place and would not think twice of doing whatever they please with you._

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><p>As Charlie finished his story, he sent a deep glare around the circle of children to lend more gravity to his warning. Tera squirmed in his lap and a child directly across of him cleared her scratchy voice to ask a question. Charlie knew what it would be; it was always the first question asked every year he had to retell the story.<p>

"Charlie, what happened to the werewolf people? Why didn't they protect us from the vampires?" Tera nodded her head along with a few others and her bright eyes looked up into Charlie's old dull ones.

"The werewolves have stayed on their islands far to the south ever since the vampires came. Back then the wolves would have been greatly outnumbered and wouldn't have had the motivation to fight to the death for a continent that didn't even belong to them. I'm sure a few tried to help their human friends, but it just made more sense for the werewolves to return to their home and stay safe." A couple of small hands were raised to ask more questions, but a female voice cut loudly through the air.

"Father! The stew is ready!" Charlie jumped up from his log seat and set a surprised Tera back down on it.

"Alright children, this old man has to eat now and I think it's about time all of you do the same. Run along and ask your parents any other questions if you really want to know the answer right now." Charlie waved and walked past a few tiny wooden shacks before he heard the children screaming and laughing amidst a youthful game. He frowned and hoped they hadn't forgotten too many of the lessons he attempted to teach them tonight. Just as Charlie reached his house and extended his arm out to grip the knob, the rickety twig door flung open and out popped a head full of long, thick, chocolaty hair.

"Father, I said…oh, there you are!" The young woman wailed in Charlie's ears. He winced and tugged at his earlobes while the woman pulled him inside and shut the door. She led him to the slanted wooden table and smiled widely at him while he investigated the small bowl of stew in front of him.

"Well Isabella it certainly looks decent. Smells half alright too." Slowly Charlie submerged his spoon into the bowl, brought it up to his lips, and slid it into his mouth. Quietly his daughter waited with raised eyebrows to hear his verdict.

"Not bad sweetie. A lot of broth, but I know the shrimp was a bit scarce this season." Bella nodded her head with a pleased grin and the two fell into a quiet dinner. While Charlie later filled their bowls with a second helping to dispose of the rest of the stew, he noticed Bella deep in thought. As with the children earlier, he knew exactly what she would be asking him and only had to wait until the moment he sat back down.

"Father, I know our family is supposed to uphold the task of retelling the stories in this village, but what would happen if you just stopped? I mean, how would Emmet find out that one storyteller in one of his villages wasn't passing along his family's stupid history anymore? Who cares if the children don't know in what order that bastard Carlisle made Esme have all those kids?" Charlie tried to keep his composure as he swallowed a mouthful of stew. Silently he set down his spoon and fixed his gaze on Bella. He always knew his 17 year old daughter was a spitfire, but he worried that one day it would get her killed in the worst way possible.

"Isabella, passing on the stories is vital to the survival of each generation and you would do well to learn that as you will be the one to do it once I die. The stories explain why humans have to live in fear and filth as we do. They tell the children how to behave around each ruler. They tell them to beware of the nomads who crawl outside our borders. They give them hope that one day the werewolves will come back and save us. And for fuck's sake, address the vampires with their title! Lord Emmet! King Carlisle! Queen Esme!" Charlie's voice had been building through his speech and ended in booming volume with a fist pounded on the table. Both bowls of stew toppled over the edge, but neither human even batted an eye at the mess. Charlie looked away in shame at his outburst and Bella pushed out of her chair and stormed out of the shack without a word. Charlie didn't dare rush after her. He learned after years of her eloping that she was too fast for him anyways.

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><p><em>AN: Oh nos, what's going to happen to Bella? Oh wait, I just implied that something is indeed going to happen to her. Hmmm, sneaky aren't I? Review! _


	2. Why, not?

_A/N: Characters from the Twilight series are not mine. I'm going to try my best to stay on top of updating, so read this while I go write some more._

Why, not?

Bella had been running for a while. She realized right away that Charlie never tried to chase after her, so she simply jogged most of the time. She knew she shouldn't be as far from the village as she was, a few nomads had been spotted around here just the other day. But sitting against the fence atop the hill of Richard's farm gave her the clearest view of the vampire city in the distance.

Seeing the streaming rivers of torchlight in the city at night always managed to force a blast of envy to shudder through Bella. The vampires had streets paved with stone instead of mud. They lived in large houses made of strong, solid timber and actual glass windows instead of rotten twigs. Inside those houses sat vampires dressed in beautiful silk clothing with gold and gems adorning their necks and fingers. But Bella also knew that inside those houses and along those streets lay humans with their throats torn and yet without a drop of blood left to spill. And within the walls of Lord Emmet's compound in the middle of the city, well, Bella didn't want to dwell on what she might find there.

The vampires were so cruel and vile. They allowed the humans to have their own pathetic villages, imagining they could possibly have a peaceful life. Letting them marry and raise children only before snatching them up like cattle and eating them alive. If only those pompous vampires knew what Bella knew.

The young human wanted to do something drastic to change the tide against the vampires. Ever since her mother was taken, Bella lived solely to exact revenge. She had to keep reminding herself that Jacob was forming a plan; he would help her do what humans alone could not. Still Bella bit back a strangled scream and slapped her hand against the wooden fence behind her, seething from the injustice of it all. When Bella brought her hand back into her lap she saw a rather nasty looking splinter jutting out of her pinky finger. She closed her eyes and hastily yanked the small bit of wood from its nesting place. Upon opening her eyes again, Bella witnessed a thin trail of her blood trickle down the side of her finger and begin to pool in the web between her two end digits. A puff of air whistled past her lips and she slowly stood to return home.

Night was falling by now. The sky gleamed with various purple and red hues. A flash of light that should not have been there caught Bella's eye. Amidst the tree line of the forest to the young woman's left, Bella saw a pale glittering figure approaching her hesitantly like a predator. It was the glittering skin of a vampire soaking up the last fleeting rays of sunlight. It was the glittering skin of a nomad.

Just as hesitantly as the male nomad descending upon her, Bella began to inch down the hill while still facing the vampire. She was able to remain respectably calm until she noticed a female nomad also emerge from the forest. They were getting close enough to see their eye color and Bella could tell by the awful crimson irises that these nomads hadn't fed for quite some time.

Bella had to do something very soon. Now at the bottom of the hill, the village was still simply a mass of dots across the wide expanse of Richard's farm. There was no way she could run much beyond a few feet before the nomads caught her, but she didn't have a weapon to help her fight them off either. Not that it would make a difference. She could scream a couple of times before they grabbed her. At least that would warn the village.

All this useless thinking had cost Bella any time she might have had. The nomads were nearly within arm's length of her now. There was just one last thing Bella wanted to do before it was too late. For curiosity's sake really.

"Stop!" Bella commanded as she planted her feet and held out her hand firmly. Surprisingly the nomads did stop and smirked wickedly at the young woman before them. Their own curiosity at this strange human's reaction was guiding them now. This would be an easy meal after all, so why not see what fun they could have first?

Bella nodded and bent over, rummaging her fingers through the dirt for a moment. Finally she straightened up and gripped a large, ridged rock in her hand. She took a few steps back and got into her very best throwing stance. Aiming at the male's chest, Bella turned her shoulder into the throw and pelted the rock at the nomad as hard as she could.

It connected with his skin and shattered into dust. The nomads laughed a hearty laugh.

Bella now wished for death to end her embarrassment. She knew humans were supposed to be much weaker than vampires, but the evidence she just received was a cold slap in the face. Life truly was unkind to her people. But as the nomads' laughter ceased and they finally seemed ready to pounce, one more rock would change Bella's life.

It was even smaller than the rock Bella had thrown, but when it came whipping down from the top of the hill and collided with the female nomad's back, it was the nomad that shattered. The male nomad and Bella both gasped and peered up the hill to see a short, shadowy figure drenched in the encroaching moonlight.

The nomad hissed and pushed Bella to the ground, causing her to slam the back of her head against the rough soil as she fell. Less than a moment later, Bella heard the nomad grunt the word no. She lifted her head as best she could to see what was happening as the shadowed figure latched onto either side of the nomad's skull and broke it clean off with one quick twist. Bella began to panic even more now. The only thing she could think of that could do what that figure did would be a healthy vampire from the city.

Bella tried to stand, but her head throbbed and the ensuing dizzy spell made her sit back down on the ground. Her muscles screamed at her to get up and flee from this stranger, but her wandering hand revealed that she was bleeding from the back of her head too. She was making this far too easy for this new vampire.

Bella attempted to stand once more, but this time found herself wrapped in cold, strong arms. Bella's body tensed and she stopped breathing, but this slightly shorter figure gently guided Bella to sit on the ground yet again. The young woman had no choice, but to comply as the two slowly lowered themselves down. Bella also couldn't help, but notice the arms encircling her were surprisingly soft for being so solid.

As Bella reached the dirt and the figure let her go, Bella continued down until she was lying on the broken soil. Her head was pounding and her body had given up on the notion of possibly surviving when she was still standing. At least this vampire had the decency to save her before killing her. The young woman simply gazed up at the stars and basked in their beauty. This wouldn't be such a bad way to end life.

The figure's head appeared hovering over Bella then and a slender, pale hand came up to remove the hood covering the its face. The image before Bella made the young woman moan. The vampire that would finish her miserable existence was easily the most amazing sight Bella's eyes ever had the pleasure of beholding.

The face of this female vampire was perfectly smooth and gently sparkled even in the moonlight. Her short black hair appeared to reflect the peaceful vision of the stars overhead, just as a serene pond would. The vampire's features were soft, alluring, and actually seemed to be expressing a sense of compassion. And those lips, lightly reddened and slightly pouty.

Bella yearned so badly to reach up and glide her fingers through this vampire's hair and across those lips, but she had to remind herself this was all a trick. Vampires are always beautiful and desirable, so they can lure their victims in. This thought steeled Bella's mind and filled it with its usual dose of hate for these creatures. Until she gazed into the eyes of her savior above her.

Warm honey churning in the sunlight. Amber wheat dancing in the wind. This was the eye color of a vampire who didn't feed on human blood. But there was only one vampire Bella knew of who might fit this description. One vampire mentioned in her father's stories.

"Alice." Bella whispered while still locked in the trance those searching eyes above her cast. An icy wave suddenly washed through Bella's body, down to her bones and up into her skin. The feeling was intoxicating and her eyelids fluttered as her back arched up into Alice. As Bella came to rest on the ground again a piece of her memory kicked in and she started to breath erratically.

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry. I meant to say Lady Alice. And, and I-I-I didn't mean to touch you! Oh please, please forgive me my lady! I'm just a stupid, fucking human." Alice stifled a quiet giggle that made a spark of tingles ripple through Bella's chest before the vampire set her face into a grimace.

"Don't ever make that mistake again. I will not have you referring to yourself in such a negative way." Bella's mouth fell open. Alice giggled. Bella felt more tingles.

"But, you, what, I…" Bella closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Alice smelt like vanilla and roses. Bella tingled yet again.

"Why are you here? Why did you save me? Why do you care if I insult myself? What the hell is going on in general?" Bella squeaked as her arms at her sides flailed around in the dirt a bit. Alice smiled and rolled onto her back to rest next to Bella. The human woman was just getting used to all those nice tingles in her stomach and now Alice dared to get off her!

"I'm visiting my brother Emmet for a few days. Edward stayed at my compound a little while ago and drove me this close to crazy, so I needed some laughter. I told Emmet I had to go hunt for a bit, but really came out here to save you because I had a vision of you in danger. I'll have to send someone out here to burn those nomads' bodies now too. Oh, and I don't want you insulting yourself because you humans are stop stupid, just different. I was a human myself once you know." Bella was so enthralled in the light tones of Alice's voice, ringing like cheerful music notes played on a piano, that she didn't realized right away that Alice had actually stopped talking.

"Oh, ok, but why did you save me? I know you saw me in a vision, but why not just disregard it?" Bella spoke unusually slowly, still trying to process everything Alice just told her. Alice nibbled on the bottom of her lip for a moment. Bella had to avert her gaze. This vampire was just way too appealing for her own good.

"Well I felt compelled to come help you that's why. But I don't really know why I was so drawn to do it. Hmm, I'll have to think on that and maybe get back to you later. For now, I need to get you home. That pretty little finger and head of yours has to get bandaged." Bella agreed and was finally going to chalk this whole outlandish encounter to a dream in the morning until one more oddity smacked her in the face.

"Wait, you're a vampire and I'm bleeding. Why aren't you losing your mind and attacking me now or anything?"

"Because silly, I've never tasted human blood before. I have no desire for it just as much as I assume you don't desire it either." Alice giggled at the look on Bella's face as the short vampire gently slid her arms under the human and cradled her to her chest.

"Wha, what are you doing?" Bella became anxious as Alice began to carry her toward the village.

"I told you, I'm bringing you home. Now relax. I'm going to walk very slowly so as not to disturb your head wound." The young woman wasn't sure why any of this was happening or if it was a very good idea to trust this vampire, but looking into Alice's kind eyes made her feel safe. Bella sighed and laid her head against Alice's shoulder and weakly wrapped her arms around the vampire's neck. She wanted to keep telling herself this was all a part of the vampire's plan to harm her or the villagers somehow; it was the only explanation that made sense. The problem was her brain wouldn't listen this time. Besides, Alice felt too good to be evil.

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><p>Bella wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, Alice really did walk very slowly for her, but the vampire was whispering for her to awake now. The human's eyes reluctantly peaked open and a sleepy smile escaped her lips upon seeing Alice grinning down at her. Bella lightly stretched, still within Alice's arms, and glanced at her surroundings. The vampire had stopped just short of actually entering into where the majority of the wooden shacks were clumped together.<p>

"This is where you get off I believe." Alice carefully brought Bella to stand up on her own feet and kept her arms out for a minute in case the human tumbled over.

"Good, now I searched your future and you're going to make it back to your house safely, so off you go. And Bella, please be more careful. If I hadn't been there those nomads would have ripped you to shreds. And if a vampire from the city had found you instead of nomads, Bella that could have been even worse." Alice's eyes creased with concern and Bella shamefully nodded in compliance.

"I'm sorry Lady Alice, you're right. Can I ask one more question? How do you know my name? I never gave it to you." Alice sheepishly grinned and tapped her temple.

"Your name is Isabella, but you only let your father call you that. Everyone else must call you Bella. So that is what I shall do as well. And let's just say you might run into me again and that's when you would have told me your name. Also, just call me Alice. I let everyone call me Alice, except my father must call me Lady Alice. Now goodnight, brave Bella." Alice saluted to the human, propped her hood back up, and silently disappeared into the night.

With a dumbfounded, but warm smile plastered to her face, Bella stared after the spot she saw Alice vanish into in the distance for quite some time. There was no reason why she should have been feeling this ache in her chest just to watch someone walk away. But there it was and she had to fight to make herself loath it.

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><p><em>AN: Oh snap, feelings are happening! And feelings lead to drama, you would do well to remember that…Review!_


	3. Sorting

_A/N: Characters still not mine. Thanks for the reviews! I was going to wait another day or two to post this, but started to fear for my life if I did, so here you are. Oh, and sorry for any spelling errors. I try to catch them before I submit each chapter, but I'm kind of a fast reader, so they slip by sometimes. Forgive me?_

Sorting

"Hey big sis, you're back!" Emmet shouted out as Alice slipped into his dining hall. The man had been feasting on a young woman's neck when Alice arrived. As he yelled out to his sister, the dying human quietly slumped to the ground and blood gushed down Emmet's chin. The woman had long brown hair like Bella's. The image made Alice flinch.

"Emmet, wipe your mouth and follow me." The short vampire gestured as she continued to walk. Emmet shook his head, cleaned his gory face on his sleeve, and snapped at a servant to remove the body.

"Is something the matter Al? You know I try to eat when you're not around." Emmet frantically attempted to stay in step with Alice's quick movements while apologizing. He hated it when she seemed disappointed in him. Alice took a sharp turn then and pulled her brother into her private chambers.

"Emmet, I'm not disappointed in you, so stop planning on doing nice things for me. Listen, I wasn't out hunting. I had some strange visions and I had to take care of something that pertained to these strange visions. Now I'm left with a few interesting questions and I need to figure them out. I'm going to be in here for awhile and please Emmet, do not let anyone disturb me." Before Alice could finish her speech, her little brother was grinning from ear to ear.

"Does this have to do with a woman?" Alice tried her best to glare at her brother, but couldn't resist letting a miniscule smile crack at the side of her mouth. Alice didn't usually speak like this and Emmet was pretty perceptive to the changes in her behavior. He laughed as he picked her up and spun her around.

"Oh this is wonderful big sis! Ok, ok, so I promise no one will bother you while you do your smart psychic stuff alright? And! I won't breath a word of this to anyone." Alice nodded with a giggle and Emmet ran to her door to leave her be. Just before he could exit her room, however, he gave Alice a mischievous smirk. The small vampire waited for a few minutes until she stopped hearing a kind of commotion going on outside her door.

Hesitantly she poked her head out into the hallway. Next to her door a sign made of cloth was nailed to the wall. In boyish handwriting was a warning of death to all who dared knock on Alice's door or called her name. The vampire retreated back into her chambers and slid onto a leather chair. She could always trust Emmet to be on her side, a part from Esme, even when all the others were against her.

Now Alice had to ponder what all these sudden visions of a human named Bella meant. And why she cared so damn much about pondering over them anyways.

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><p><em>Bella woke up in a field. How she got there was troubling enough. Even more frightening was the fact that this field was full of lush, blooming flowers. No such landscape existed around Bella's dreary village. <em>

_The young woman hastily bolted upright to her feet and swung around in circles to see anything familiar in the distance. She was alone. Utterly and completely alone in a beautiful, but unknown land. A rare sensation for Bella sprung up. A dreadful stinging pricked the back of her eyes, making her ferociously wipe at her face to stem the tears from flowing. Just as she feared she couldn't keep from bursting into helpless sobs, two figures appeared as if out of mist. It was a man, Charlie, and a caramel brown wolf almost twice the size of Bella's father. She sniffed and smiled brightly as she began to will her wobbly legs to run toward them. Before Bella got more than a few meters, however, a voice like merry music tinkled in her ears. Immediately Bella stopped and turned to face a new figure behind her._

_There stood Alice, twinkling in the sunshine. _

"_Bella! My brave Bella, you've found me!"_

_A huge grin lit up the human woman's face as she now easily found strength in her limbs to carry her toward the vampire. Alice lifted her arms to eagerly accept Bella into her embrace. _

"_Isabella, Isabella no! Hurry and come to us."_

_Bella continued to run in Alice's direction, but tilted her head to see Charlie crying, reaching out to her in desperation. The massive wolf beside him was growling and seemed ready to attack someone. Bella wanted to go back and comfort them, but a cool breeze beckoned her onward. _

"_Sweet Bella, I've missed you so much."_

_Bella collapsed into Alice's arms and sucked in lungs full of vanilla and roses._

"_Isabella, please! Get away from her!"_

_Guiltily the human turned her head just enough to look behind her one last time at the life she gave up. The wolf was tearing apart Charlie's chest with its front claws. Her father's screaming was silent, but his blood seeping onto the ground rang in her ears._

_Bella wanted to let go of Alice now. She wanted to run back to her father's side and beg the wolf to rip her apart too. But Alice was whispering to her. The vampire's gentle plea rolled down Bella's neck and made her shiver. The deafening ring of Charlie's fleeting life quieted until all Bella could hear was Alice._

"_Please, stay with me."_

_And so Bella did._

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><p>Bella woke to a scream. Trembling and sweating, she realized the scream came from her own sore throat. The human closed her eyes and tried to regain control of her erratic breathing.<p>

"Fucking vampires."

The dream terrified her; mostly because it left her with a feeling of excitement. Having that emotion after witnessing her father get mutilated did not bode well with Bella.

Reluctantly she swung her feet onto the floor and moved to her dresser to fetch some fairly clean clothes. Absently, her left hand fiddled around to the back of her head to play with the bandaging Charlie placed on her cut last night.

She vaguely remembered what happened when she got home shortly after Alice left her. She didn't think Charlie asked her any questions, even though he was still awake waiting for her by the fire pit. He simply sat her down at the table, wrapped some fresh cloth around the top of her head, and sent her off to bed. Charlie was good like that.

Today Bella wanted to ask her father some questions of her own. The run in with Alice yesterday just didn't seem to make sense. All her life Bella, like all human children, were taught that vampires were superior beings who had every right to kill and eat you. And if you happen to wander along one's path, alone, at night, they probably will eat you right then and there. And one of the vampire rulers, of all things, would not go out of their way to save you and not eat you. That's preposterous! Even if Alice didn't feed on humans, it all was just too…convenient.

Buttoning up the last button on her long skirt, Bella trudged out of her room and straight to the table where Charlie already sat. He had two plates with bread and eggs already sitting out as well.

"Father, I want to know more about one of the vampires." Bella gave Charlie a stern frown as she said this, leaving no room for discussion. He raised his eyebrows in amusement while continuing to fork up his eggs.

"You don't think it's fair that I at least get to ask my questions first?" Bella's eye twitched nervously a couple times before she nodded in agreement. She couldn't look at him while she answered. She bit into her bread and stared thoughtfully at it as she chewed.

"Where did you go last night? And what happened to your head? That's all I want to know." The young woman straightened her back and spoke quickly.

"I just walked around Richard's farm. And you know I'm clumsy sometimes. I slipped down the hill and hit my head. That's it, honest." Bella gave her most sincere of sincere faces and her father sighed, defeated. The young woman rushed back into eating the rest of her extremely interesting piece of bread.

"I just worry Isabella. It's not safe for humans to go wandering off like that. Anything could have happened." Bella hung her head. She didn't like to make her father worry and she knew he was right. If Alice hadn't been there…

"Can I ask you my questions now? You should be proud of me for wanting to know more about this stuff." Bella smiled devilishly. A light chuckle rumbled through Charlie's chest. His daughter sure knew what to say to get her way.

"Alright, I give. What's on your mind?" Charlie now moved onto his piece of bread. Apparently it wasn't as intriguing as Bella's.

"I want to know more about Lady Alice." Charlie waited a few moments for Bella to elaborate. She simply stared back at him eagerly while attempting to shovel runny eggs into her mouth.

"Like what?"

"Like everything. Just tell me everything you know about her." The man frowned. This was a bit of an odd request from his child. She usually only showed disdain for the ancient stories and the subjects within them. The occasional time she did seem interested in some aspect of one of the tales, her questions were never this broad. But Charlie was delighted to see his daughter curious about the matter and he quickly tried to recall all he could about the Lady in question. He stuffed down the rest of his breakfast with a few impressively large swallows then began.

"Well she's the oldest of King Carlisle and Queen Esme's children. She was turned at age 20. She has psychic abilities that allow her to see into the future and she can choose to focus on one person's future in particular. Half of the time her visions come to her randomly, however, and they can change according to the decisions people involved make. When Lady Alice was still human, the king used her talents to track down certain humans or vampires he wanted executed. Once the lady was turned, though, she refused to aid her father's schemes and insisted she would never harm a human as he does. The queen supported her daughter's decision to not feed on humans and it is one the lady has stuck to. She controls the northwest lands which is rather far from here, but she does visit our Lord Emmet fairly often. She is most close with that sibling seeing as Lord Edward and Lady Rosalie is almost always at odds with her and Lady Alice tries not to associate with Lord Jasper very much." Bella listened intently to ever word her father spoke; abandoning the last of her eggs the moment he had started to speak. She seemed to be soaking up and storing away every bit of information he was giving her.

"And what about her people? Didn't you say they claim she's very fair, even to humans?"

"Yes, every human I've met who has seen her lands say it is so. They say she tries to make it as equal as she can, though King Carlisle still has final say over many matters. People even tell tales that Lady Alice has convinced a number of the vampires under her rule to feed only on wild game as she does." Charlie stared off at the far wall for a moment, no doubt day dreaming about visiting Lady Alice's domain one day. Bella cleared her throat.

"Is there anything else you know about her? I mean, she's lived for a long time, there must be more!" Bella exclaimed loudly as she flailed her arms above her head for a second. Charlie frowned yet again, but attempted to think of anything else he might know to help quench his daughter's thirst for knowledge.

"Well, even though most of her family doesn't agree with her methods, they all respect her. She's supposed to be the wisest of them all and would still come to any of their rescue if they were in danger somehow. And there's one other thing, I guess. She's supposed to be very picky about her…um…mates. Her siblings are said to have, uh, se-sexual partners quite, uh, frequently and of various, uh haha, um types." Bella had to literally bite her tongue to refrain from laughing hysterically at her father's squeamishness at the topic. To be honest, this part of the discussion was making Bella feel a bit uncomfortable too. Only because a warm, churning feeling was settling in her stomach at knowing Alice wasn't some easy trollop. Charlie cleared his voice this time.

"Besides that not too much else is coming to mind right now. Even though the vampires are old creatures, they don't like to share too much about their lives." Bella nodded understandingly and stood from her seat.

"Well wait! Who do you want to hear about next?" The man looked at her expectantly.

"Oh uh, just Lady Alice for today. I mean, you know, you gave me a lot of information to take in for one day. I gotta go process it and stuff now."

"Alright. Look, don't forget to help old lady Wilma milk the cows first thing this morning. You know she's got a bad back. And then help Lena pick mint; she's got a lot of it this year."

"I know father, I know!" Bella huffed a little testily. She loved the people in her village, but it was irritating that the only way they could survive was if they all worked together. Really, it was only irritating because everyone else had a larger farm then her and Charlie. She had to spend all day helping other people tending to their crops while her own father had to do their family's work by himself.

"And Isabella. I got word that Jacob will be arriving within the week. So please, keep your head down for now." The young woman's eyes widened and she stopped in the doorway. Slowly Bella shook her head and continued on her way out.

Everything Bella just learned about Alice, though not too much of it was news to her, appeared to confirm that perhaps what happened last night wasn't a trick after all. Perhaps Bella stumbled across the one vampire that was weird enough to actually mean the things she did and said to the human.

But maybe it didn't matter anymore. Jacob would be here soon and Bella would probably never see Alice again.

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><p><em>AN: Or will she? Dun dun dun! Review! _


	4. Indecision breeds you

_A/N: Characters not mine. I love hearing what you guys think is going to happen next and anticipating how each person is going to act. Sorry about the wait for this chapter, but I had to use my trusty laptop for actual work here. But because I'm so good to you, this chapter will be a bit longer than the previous ones. Now, let's get this train rolling again!_

Indecision breeds you

Alice had kept herself locked in her room for a few days now. Emmet normally wouldn't mind, his beloved elder sister was known for doing such a thing when analyzing a particularly difficult situation. But he knew Alice didn't feed the night she met this mystery woman, which meant Alice hadn't tasted blood in over a week. Though Alice knew her limits and Emmet didn't fear she would lose any power of restraint around humans, he did fear she was sacrificing her strength just to remain lost in visions.

Emmet snapped his fingers and was immediately attended to by a vampire servant.

"Yes milord?"

"Blake, I want you to bring me a calf from the nearest farm. Send it straight to me and make sure it's a plump one." The servant bowed and raced out of the throne room. Emmet leaned his head back against his chair and let his eyelids slide shut.

He was ecstatic that his big sister was finally showing an interest in someone as a potential mate. All of Emmet's siblings, himself included, had delighted in the company of multiple partners throughout their wide spanning lives. Usually these mates were other vampires that a sibling was especially drawn to. A handful of decades would be spent with this vampire mate before the sibling in question killed their partner to keep any personal secrets from being revealed. The children of the Cullen clan were rather fickle in their affections. On a rare occasion, Rosalie was known to take humans as partners for just a few years before disposing of them. And only enough times to count on one hand had all of the males combined had a human mate, to lessen the chance of there being a pregnancy.

Early in all of the siblings' lives, their father Carlisle made it very apparent that he didn't want any of them to have their own offspring. Their bloodline could not be spoiled.

Carlisle, however, did not seem to have to worry about Alice as she, like so many other times, appeared to be an exception of sorts. While her siblings had been raking in mates from the different sexes and races during their entire vampire existence, she has had none.

Oh Emmet had tried on plenty of her visits to him to set her up with someone charming he thought she might enjoy, but Alice always politely declined. This was part of the reason why Emmet was so unsettled at the moment.

His dear sister having visions of some woman none of the family had ever met made Emmet uneasy. There was no way to know if this woman could be trusted with Alice's safety, secrets, and attention. Worse yet, and this was truly Emmet's fear, this woman may be a human. Alice would most likely never kill her partner which meant she was probably waiting for her immortal mate. If a human was her mate, whether she was turned in the future or not, Carlisle would never stand for it. Alice's rebellious ways had angered him enough, but Emmet dared not think of the repercussions his older sister would face under such circumstances.

Emmet rubbed his eyes forcefully as he felt the near forgotten feeling of tears struggling to push onto his cheeks. He wanted so badly to be happy for his sister, but her happiness could come at a grave cost.

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><p><em>Bella stood on a narrow wooden dock leading out into the great, blue sea. The wind whipped her hair to and fro like a shivering demon. Tightly, she clutched a necklace to her chest. The ruby oval dangling from the chain slapped against her fingers with each new gust of wind. This was a necklace Alice often wore when she was in her own lands.<em>

_Bella stared down at the necklace, tears suddenly erupting from her squinting eyes. Before another moment could pass, Bella screamed and violently threw the necklace out to the ocean's sweeping tides. The ruby sparkled at her one last time as it was swallowed by its watery grave._

Alice fluttered her eyes open as this newest vision subsided. They had been coming to her almost non-stop since barring herself in her chambers. No two visions were the same as of yet in these last two days. As confusing as it all was to Alice, it made her smile ever so slightly. Bella was obviously so willing to change her mind and rewrite her future at any moment. It was refreshing to the vampire trying in vain to predict this odd human's next move.

Alice sighed deeply to regain her composure. She needed to feed. The scent of the humans working in Emmet's castle from getting stronger. Though she didn't crave their blood, they were still prey nonetheless and Alice wished not to tempt herself. She tried to stand; hoping to flee to the forest and eat before another vision arrived, but she was too late already.

_Bella was locked in a warm embrace with someone. This person was quite a bit taller than the human and defiantly a male, but beyond that he was not identifiable. The image of this man was too fuzzy to make out any features or even hear his voice properly. _

_Bella pulled away far enough to smile up at him and slowly touch her lips to his. Behind this mysterious man's shoulder, Carlisle and Esme's castle was surrounded by blazing fires and dead bodies. _

Alice was yanked out of this vision with a gasp. That hazy man, he had appeared in nearly half of Bella's possible futures. Every time he was there, it seemed to mean death for at least one member of Alice's family. Usually Bella was delighted with the effect he had on her life. In a vision last night, however, Bella found this man standing over Alice's corpse and the human proceeded to kill him. The vision ended before Alice could see what happened after Bella pounced on the deadly man.

For the moment the short vampire was getting a familiar pressure on her forehead that told her she would have relief from any visions for a while. Finally Alice would have enough time to eat and gain some much needed strength back. Before she could reach the door handle to leave, though, Emmet entered her room. A rather fat looking calf stood at his side.

"Big sis, look, I know you've got a lot of deep thinking to do. And I know I promised not to bother you. But! I wanted to make sure that you had food because your well-being is very important to me. So here's a small cow, only because a big one wouldn't fit through all the doors, and if you don't want to feed on it now then fine. I just want you to be ok while you figure all this out." It was a good thing vampires don't need to breath otherwise Alice was pretty sure Emmet would have fainted right then from saying that all in one breathe. The elder vampire simply smiled widely at her brother and took hold of the rope attached to the calf's neck he had in his hand.

"Well little brother you have great timing then. I was just on my way out of here to find a bit of a snack. Thank you for your concern. And I think I'll be leaving your beautiful city tonight to return back home. I've been away for long enough that Edward's stench should have left my compound walls by now."

"Well I don't know about that, but I'll let you go if you really want to." Emmet swept Alice up into his giant arms and squeezed her tightly. Rosalie would attack him if he tried to do such a thing, but Alice never minded.

"Be sure to say goodbye before you leave." Not wanting to take up anymore of Alice's time, Emmet waved and closed the door behind him.

Alice rested her hand atop the calf's head and petted it for a bit. She always felt bad feeding on an animal when it was still young. She would let this youthful cow live in her room with her until just before she left this night.

Her hand came to a stop and gently lay between the calf's ears. One more stray vision was quickly approaching Alice's sight.

_Bella stood in front of a full length mirror. Her eyes were cast down at her left hand where a thick, gold ring embedded with a swirl of rubies slept on her finger. Bella smiled fondly and twisted the band around a few times to let all of the beautiful gems catch a bit of light each. As the young woman continued to play with her ring, Alice appeared silently behind her. With no hesitation, the short vampire snaked her strong arms around Bella's waist and rested her chin just barely atop the taller woman's shoulder. _

_Bella abandoned her game with the ring, grinning even wider now. Slowly she turned her face to the side and lightly kissed Alice's nose. The vampire giggled. When Bella swung her head forward to watch Alice laugh in the mirror, a pair of bright, golden eyes reflected back from the former human's face._

_Alice squeezed Bella. No bones broke; no hushed screams of agony rang out. Bella simply squeezed back._

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><p>Bella had been impatiently awaiting Jacob's arrival. She hadn't seen the young man in half a year and missed him fiercely.<p>

She shuffled around in the dirt, picking mint for a second day. It was a bit obnoxious really; no one was going to eat this much mint.

To keep some of her sanity intact, Bella decided to let her hands do the work on their own and her mind could check out. Deftly her body kept toiling away, but now the young woman was thinking about Jacob and the first time they met.

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><p><em>Bella was ten years old and she would later find out that Jacob was twelve. Her mother had been taken away just weeks ago. After it happened, her father started frantically sending messages to his "friend". Bella knew this friend of Charlie's was a werewolf, supposedly even the prince of all the werewolf folk. <em>

_Bella no longer remembered the story very well, but when she was just a toddler her father would proudly tell her every night about how he befriended the werewolf prince. Somehow Charlie had saved the prince and his companions who were attacked by a large clan of nomads while the wolves were spying on the vampires in the city. You see, most humans thought the werewolves were keeping themselves hidden on their islands all these years, but Bella and Charlie had discovered otherwise. For decades the wolves had bands of scouts living secretly in Lady Rosalie's and Lord Jasper's lands. These scouts gathered information about the situation between the vampires and humans. The prince tried to help establish a new group of werewolves to live further north than they had ever gone, in Lord Emmet's domain and thus their path collided with Charlie's. With Bella's mother ripped away from them, her father demanded that his friend help him get revenge._

_The day Bella met Jacob; he arrived at the house with a man named Billy, his father. Both of them had darker skin then the majority of people in the village although they had thick, black hair like her father. The two children were told to play quietly next to the house while Billy and Charlie spoke inside. Once the men began to converse, Bella realized that Billy was the werewolf prince. He was calmly trying to convince her father that now was not the time to strike back at the vampires yet. The wolves still needed to gain more numbers and learn more about the rest of the Cullen's besides Rosalie, Jasper, and Carlisle who they knew from when the vampires first appeared. Bella wanted to hear more, but Jacob had his own plans._

"_I'm a werewolf you know. I haven't changed yet, I have to be a little older, but I'm going to be one. And we can live forever if we want to, like the vampires. My grandpa, the king, he's been around since Carlisle and is brother and sisters invaded this continent. But don't worry, one day I'm going to come and kill the vampires and rescue all of you." Jacob was standing tall with his hands balled into fists at his side and a triumphant smile spread on his face. Bella gazed up at him adoringly. So confident and assuring he was. _

_She grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him around the village, telling him about everything and everyone she knew. They stayed out all night until the prince called for his son._

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><p>Bella's hands finished picking mint at the same moment she stopped envisioning Jacob's smiling face from her memory. With a relieved sigh, she lifted herself up off her knees and peered into the glowing sun. The light blinded her and narrowed her sight, but she couldn't look away. Just as she believed her eyes couldn't take the burning pain anymore, a tall, dark shadow granted her mercy and blocked the sun's path.<p>

Blinking rapidly a few times, Bella looked up into the face before her and squealed with glee.

"Jacob! Oh I've missed you so much!" The young woman smashed her body into Jacob's large chest, throwing her arms around his neck as he twirled her around gracefully.

"Sweet Bella, I see you've prepared a snack for me." Jacob set the woman down, plucked a few mint leaves from her basket, and almost swallowed them whole. Bella chuckled and slapped his arm.

"Bella, I just talked to Charlie, but I wanted to see you. I was actually just passing through your village on my way to check up on some of the scouts, but I will return in a few more weeks. I would love to stay with you guys for a couple days at that time before heading back home." Bella's eyes widened and Jacob grimaced at her ensuing reaction.

"Jake no! You have to stay for at least the night. I haven't seen you in so long and I have some things to tell you!" Desperately, Bella flung her body at Jacob again, letting herself be gently lifted off her feet by his embrace. The warmth of him always put her mind at ease.

"I know Bella, I've missed you too. But we're trying to come up with a strategy right now. We'd like to finally make our move against the vampires soon, but we've still never had spies in Alice's or Edward's lands. I need to convince any extra scouts to try to make the journey to those places." Jacob had nestled his face into the crook of Bella's neck, so he did not see the look on her face at hearing Alice's name.

"Why haven't you ever had spies in those parts of the kingdom?"

"Bella I've told you this before. Edward's lands have always been considered too dangerous to enter because Carlisle resides there. He and his old guard are the only vampires still alive from the time of the invasion that would recognize our kind on sight or scent. Alice has just unknowingly made it hard for us to scope out her territory because so many vampires in her lands follow her example and don't feed on humans and interact with them more often. Many of them even live among their human brethren, so they would notice our kind as being suspicious. But without any of my scouts in those lands, we don't really know much about Alice or Edward." Bella had since slipped out of Jacob's grasp and now simply rested her hands on his stomach. She glanced off to the side to see a fat calf from old lady Wilma's pen being lead away. Jacob glared beyond her shoulder and scoffed.

"Hey, just a few more weeks ok? Then I'm all yours." The young man winked at Bella. She shook her head and kissed his cheek before he jogged past her. Turning around, Bella noticed two others she knew to be werewolves, Seth and Leah. Once Jacob caught up with them, he smiled and waved at Bella one more time as the three wolves ran into the distance.

There was that smile again, so confident and assuring. It made Bella believe, even if just for a minute, that everything would be alright.

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><p><em>AN: How deep is Bella's love for Jacob? Guess you'll have to keep reading. Review!_


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